


darling you're just soaking in it

by Anonymous



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: F/M, Friendship, Light Angst, Pre-Relationship, crowelna, things you said meme
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-06
Updated: 2017-05-06
Packaged: 2018-10-28 16:52:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 786
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10835370
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: "Why do I always spill?"- Melanie Martinez,SoapCrowe/Pelna.For the Things You Said Meme:#3: things you said too quietly





	darling you're just soaking in it

**3\. things you said too quietly**

* * *

"…and then after that, I guess I blanked out. Didn't really expect her to um. You know,  _say yes_  and stuff…" Pelna flushes a little as the bartender refills his glass with a smile, evidently having been eavesdropping since the beginning of the night.  Not that it'd require any amount of effort; they're the last ones left, it's past closing and the music has been off since he started talking.

"On the house." says the bartender. With a wink she's gone, Pelna flushing harder than ever.  He cracks a nervous laugh, clears his throat unnecessarily.

"They're all laughing aren't they?"

"Who." says Crowe. She's a black mage, not a telepath.  "And at  _what_."

"The guys. Laughing at me, I mean. Because she's out of my league, that kind of thing…well, I don't think Libertus would...because he doesn't bother with...you know..." 

Crowe just heaves her millionth sigh and bumps shoulders with him. Tonight the hit lacks gusto, but that could be because Luche thought wind sprints through the Duscae wilds would top that survivalist obstacle course they did a few weeks back. The one with the machine that glitched out and nearly stomped her flat if he hadn't been there to shove her out of the way...

 _Recklessrecklessreckless_ \--

"Insomnia to Crowe, do you copy…" Crowe catches his wrist when he tries to wave his hand back and forth in front of her face. Twists. "Ow! Why do you have to--"

" _Stop_ saying she's out of your league-- _she's not_. She said  _yes_ , so, I don't know, she probably thinks you're amazing or something." Crowe mutters into her drink, grip tighter than necessary around her glass.

"Yep, that's me," says Pelna with a self-deprecating laugh, "wowing the ladies one awkward step at a time with my ' _amazing_ '-" his laugh cuts off into an  _oompf_  when she hits him a lot harder this time " _why do you keep hitting--_ "

"Because you're an  _idiot_  if you don't see what she sees."

And then he goes quiet.  

And Crowe thinks,  _fuck._

Because it's a different sort of quiet from what she's used to getting from him: at ease, relaxed. It’s the kind of quiet that is still, contemplative, reflecting. The type she doesn't like, the type Drautos is when he observes them during training exercises--there's no way Pelna's going to  _not_  try to decipher the unbidden emotion and reluctant truth that only alcohol can coax from a stubborn person.  

"Hey.  We should get back--"

"What  _does_  she see, exactly?" asks Pelna, softly. This time he's turned fully toward her in his stool, and when their gazes are levelled there's a steadiness in his eyes despite the alcohol; terrifying and somehow exhilarating at the same time.  He leans closer, whispering conspiratorially.  "C'mon, Doctor Crowe, _regale_ me something about myself that makes me ' _so amazing_ '." 

Crowe punches him in the shoulder and finds her voice in the seconds it takes for him to recover. "That you  _listen_." She punches him again. "That you're  _funny_." And again. "That you're good-looking. That--"

Pelna catches her hand. "I'm  _good-looking_?" he repeats with a grin.  Of  _course_ he would fixate on that.

She doesn't get a chance to retort because Tredd is suddenly standing behind them, pulling the guy into a headlock. A few seconds later Nyx appears, smirking like Drautos is gonna enact a ban against it tomorrow, in the stool beside her.  Libertus, the only _normal_ one, enters through the front door with an apology for the bartender.

" _So_ …” Tredd winks at Crowe, managing to stretch that one syllable for more than two seconds. “We heard about your little _date_ , Marcus.  Dinner and a movie, wasn’t it Messer Ulric."

“Aye, Messer Furia, indeed it was.” 

Pelna laughs. “Aww come on Nyx, you too?  And that accent is ridiculous.”

Nyx breaks character, shrugging. “Hey, I’m just looking out for my little brother—”

“He means _condoms_ , Khara.” says Tredd. Crowe coughs into her glass.  Pelna looks mortified. 

“ _What_?”

“What do you mean ‘ _what_ ’?" Tredd demands.  "What did you think _dinner and a movie_ meant?”

Nyx just shakes his head in silent agreement. 

“I don’t know…” Pelna shrugs helplessly, looking to Crowe for support “dinner and a movie?”

“Nyx, get his legs!”

“Roger that!”

Without any further preamble they strong-arm him, protesting and laughing weakly right out of the bar. Pelna knows better than to actually put effort into struggling because he knows he’s at a significant disadvantage: he’s been drinking and there are _two_ of them.

Twenty-four year old Crowe watches them go, heart sinking through the floor; final confession rolling off the tip of her tongue, softer than a whisper: 

 

_“That I’d trade places with her.”_

 


End file.
